Dear Sir,
I have read the further
account of your dietetic experiment - reprinted in the Hindu of July
22 - with much interest; and I am glad to see that you do not carry your
objections to milk and its products to the extent of recommending the
'youth of India" not to use it. Indeed, you are, if I may say so,
recording the results of your experiment with much open-mindedness. But
there are in your account two misstatements of fact (a) the
capacity of the plant-world to sustain man at his highest is not an
unexplored field to modern medical science, and this science has shown
it to be not unlimited: one reason for the nutritive limitations of a
purely vegetable diet for man is the difference in length and structure
between the human gastro-intestinal tract and that of herbivorous
animals. Man's digestive tube is not long enough nor capacious enough
to accommodate a sufficient mass of suitable veg­etable food, nor to
extract from such as it can contain all the nutriment man needs for
his fullest well-being; (b) there is only one vitamin - vitamin D -
for which man can rely (to a considerable extent) upon the sun. There
are, of course, more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in
our philosophy; but so far as nutritional science has progressed, there
is nothing to indicate the possibility of 'getting the most important of
the vitamins from the sun', though, no doubt, the sun plays a great part
in their production in the foods available for mankind. There are, by
the way. no vitamins which can truthfully be said to be more important
than others.
One of the great
faults in Indian diets at the present day is their deficiency in vitamin
A, in suitable proteins and in certain salts; and the greatest
nutritional need of India is the freer use of good milk and its products
which supply these factors. There can be no doubt in the minds of those
of us who have devoted a life­time to the study of nutrition that milk
is one of the greatest blessings given to mankind. And to one like
myself, whose work is to learn the Truth and spread it, the scarcity of
this food in India and the lack of appreciation of its value are matters
of grave concern. Do not. I beg of you, decry it; for a pint of milk a
day will do more for 'Young India' than most things I wrote of. It is,
for example, to deficiency of vitamin A that we owe so much disease of
the bowels and lungs, so much disease of the bladder (such as "stone')
and so much anaemia in this country.
I am glad you are
interesting yourself in the matter of food and I agree with much that
you say. But let me assure you that a little more "fortissimo' on the
'milk and milk-products theme' will do great good when you are leading
the orchestra of Truth.
Coonoor, 26-7-1929

I am,
Yours sincerely,
R. McCarrison
PS. - When next you make
an Andhra tour, avoid "the extreme weakness" which overtook you in your
last one, by taking a pint of milk a day!

I publish this letter thankfully and wish that other men versed in medical
science would also guide me. In mak­ing the experiment, I am trying to
find out the truth about food in so far as it is possible for a layman
to do so.
As for Dr. McCarrison's argument about the necessity of animal food, I dare
not as a layman combat it, but I may state that there are medical men
who are decidedly of opinion that animal food including milk is not
necessary for sustaining the human system to the full. By instinct and
upbringing I personally favour a purely vegetarian diet, and have for
years been experimenting in finding a suitable vegetarian combination.
But there is no danger of my decrying milk until I have obtained
overwhelming evidence in support of a milkless diet. It is one of the
many inconsistencies of my life that whilst I am in my own person
avoiding milk, I am conducting a model dairy which is already producing
cow's milk that can success­fully compete with any such milk produced in
India in purity and fat content.
Notwithstanding Dr. McCarrison's claim for medical science I submit that
scientists have not yet explored the hidden possibilities of the
innumerable seeds, leaves and fruits for giving the fullest possible
nutrition to mankind. For one thing, the tremendous vested interests
that have grown round the belief in animal food prevent the medical
profession from approaching the question with com­plete detachment. It
almost seems to me that it is reserved for lay enthusiasts to cut their
way through a mountain of difficulties even at the risk of their lives
to find the truth. I should be satisfied if scientists would lend their
assistance to such humble seekers.
I am thankful for Dr. McCarrison's more accurate state­ment about
vitamins.